Below is my last posting to the list, made on request of Dean Brown.
It concerns the continuity within Orphism-Bogomilism-Deunovism as the Bulgarian part of Catena Aurea.

X-POP3-Rcpt: intcom@sof Return-Path: <owner-arcana@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU> Received: from BROWNVM.brown.edu (brownvm.brown.edu [128.148.19.19]) by sof.omega.bg (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id MAA19963 for <intcom@OMEGA.BG>; Wed, 10 Jun 1998 12:17:04 +0300 Received: from BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU by BROWNVM.brown.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R4) with BSMTP id 5566; Wed, 10 Jun 98 05:11:43 EDT Received: from BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@BROWNVM) by BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 8727; Wed, 10 Jun 1998 05:11:43 -0400 Received: from BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU by BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 1063 for ARCANA@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU; Wed, 10 Jun 1998 05:11:41 -0400 Received: from BROWNVM (NJE origin SMTP@BROWNVM) by BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 2356; Wed, 10 Jun 1998 05:11:41 -0400 Received: from nut.brown.edu (128.148.19.196) by BROWNVM.brown.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R4) with TCP; Wed, 10 Jun 98 05:11:40 EDT Received: from sof.omega.bg (sof.omega.bg [212.50.5.97]) by nut.brown.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id FAA04731 for <ARCANA@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU>; Wed, 10 Jun 1998 05:11:43 -0400 (EDT) Received: from ppp19.omega.bg (ppp22.omega.bg [212.50.5.119]) by sof.omega.bg (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id MAA19895 for <ARCANA@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU>; Wed, 10 Jun 1998 12:16:02 +0300 X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (Win16; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by nut.brown.edu id FAA04731 Message-ID: <357ED5CF.2DEF@omega.bg> Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 11:51:59 -0700 Reply-To: intcom@OMEGA.BG Sender: ARCANA Discussion and Study of the Occult <ARCANA@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU> From: "Nikolai H. Chernev" <intcom@OMEGA.BG> Subject: Bulgarian occultism and KUKERI To: Multiple recipients of list ARCANA <ARCANA@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by sof.omega.bg id MAA19963 X-Mozilla-Status: 0001

Dean,

Thank you for your interest. Your inquiry was the most concise I've ever read containing the three occult/religious mainflows, coming from Bulgaria, which have had a decisive impact on Western Occultism (there are many other rites and practices in Bulgaria which can be traced down to Antiquity - Nestinari and Mithra cult, Gherman and Adonis cult etc.).

1. ORPHISM.

Plato says (Rep. 364e) that Orpheus was one of the inventors of Magic and in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (Edinburgh, 1967, vol. VIII, 275a) we read: "...But Thracian magic, as Hubert warns us, was really another name for Orphic magic. Orphism itself was not essentially magic; on the contrary, it was not only a religious movement, but a religious movement of the most momentous importance in the spiritual development of classical Antiquity and ultimately of the entire Western world".

As Arcanoi know, Dionysus was a Thracian God and from his mysteries originated Greek drama (Arist., Poet., ch. IV) and comedy (see more in Ridgeway, W. The Origin of Tragedy. Cambridge 1910, pp. 16 ff.; Cornford, F.M. The Origin of Attic Comedy. London 1914, pp. 62 ff.). As Plutarchus says (De cupidit. divit., 8) carnivals in honor of Dionysus included phallic images and songs.

"Here their practice resembles the rites called Orphic and Bacchic, but which are in reality Egyptian and Pythagorean..." This fragment from Herodotus (Hist.2, 81) shows direct interpenetration of Orphism and Dionyssian rituals based on the link between the teachings of Pythagore and Egyptian mysteries. KUKERI is a perfect example of a Dionyssian ritual (see more in Dawkins, RW, The Modern Carnival in Thrace and the Cult of Dionysus, In: Journal of Hellenic Studies XXVI, 1906, 191-206; Frazer, JG, The Golden Bough, P. V, v. I, London, 1912, 25). Only to remind you, Osiris was the son of the supreme God Ra and Nut born on the fifth day before the new year (In order for Nut to become pregnant out of the 360 days cycle prohibited by Ra, Thot took those 5 days from the Lunar cycle, now 355 days, and added them to 12x30 in order to obtain the Solar cycle of 365 days. These days are a symbol of Sin/the chtonic principle); on the other hand Dionysus was the son of Zeus and the mortal Semela; Jesus was the son of Yahve and the mortal Mariam, born 5 days before the new year. Imitation of murdering is an integral part of a Kukeri carnival, showing the death and rebirth of Dionysus, or Osiris, or Orpheus, or other - the same Kukeri ritual is also performed during Christmas, which is not only the birth of Jesus, but the day from which the Sun starts its elevation in the sky, interpreted as a cycle of birth-death-rebirth.

The esoteric meaning in KUKERI (as a typical Dionyssian ritual) is partly that through a prayer to the God of vegetation together with magical operations there may be obtained a sympathetic influence over Nature using the energy of phallic dances performed within orgiastic rites as well as in the final act of plowing and sowing (which is the same through the direct magical connection phallus-plow / vagina-earth / semen-grain) in order to increase fertility. The importance of this rite in Bulgaria was still considerable by the end of the XIX c. which may be deducted from the fact that fightings between two different Kukeri groups from neighbour villages often resulted in real, not imitative murderings.

The exoteric part of the KUKERI ritual consists of two Acts, performed on Shrove Monday or around Christmas by men only (remember about Greek drama and comedy?)

Actors:

Dyado (grand father in Bulgarian) - the old Kuker Baba (grand mother in Bulgarian) - his wife Momak (young man) - the young Kuker Moma (young woman) - his future wife Kukeri - protectors of the Moma and the Tzar, collectors of taxes and offerings, soldiers etc. Tzar - elected by the Kukeri Doctor Judge Priest Barber etc., etc.

Act One.

The Kukeri groups tour the village. The Dyado and the Momak are dressed in goatskin or sheepskin, carrying wooden phalluses, with bells around the waist. The Baba and the Moma are dressed in old rags, carrying a baby doll (or a living cat). The Kukeri are dressed much like the Dyado and the Momak, with different terrible masks, carrying wooden sabres resembling phalluses, bows and arrows with ash. The Barber has a brush with pig hair, he runs after and "shaves" everybody, he even climbs on trees. The Kukeri and the rest perform phallic sketches and dances in every house of the village. They tease the Moma, the Momak defends her, gets "wounded" or even "killed". The Moma calls for the Doctor and the Judge. They get married by a strange Priest. The Kukeri collect offerings and "taxes" - mainly food, and pray for a good crop and for many children. Those who do not "pay enough" may "get shot" by the ash arrows, sabres or otherwise.

Act Two

The Kukeri groups gather together with the peasants on the central square. The Kukeri had previously elected a Tzar (King) having a white woolen barb and tin "medals" and carrying a plow and a bushel. The Kukeri feed the Tzar with 3 mouthfuls of bread. All the Kukeri group is yoked an the Tzar begins plowing and throwing different grains from the bushel and praying. After he has finished the third furrow, he rolls the bushel and by its movement the Tzar makes prophecies for the crop and new children. After that he is "killed" and the Kukeri group gathers to resuscitate him. The Tzar lives and the Moma / the Baba (got pregnant during Act One) bring forth a child (baby doll or a living cat). A feast is then organized with the food offered and the rest is given to the country school, church etc.

2. BOGOMILISM

"Bog" means God in Bulgarian. As with Orphism, it is hard to underestimate Bogomilism. Besides the Western world, it has seriously influenced slavic peoples - see Patareni in Bosnia, Babuni in Serbia, Strigolniki in Russia etc. The Bulgarian Bogomil Nicetas presided the Cathar Council in San Félix de Caraman, near Toulouse (1167), ordained Bishops etc. There is no need to explain what Bogomilism is, so I may help in some obscure topics of interest to ARCANOI, which need use of Bulgarian sources (by far the world's richest ones on this subject).

3. DEUNOVISM

In fact, the civil name of Teacher Beinsa Douno was Peter Konstantinov Deunov and it is not an artificial effect of combining the latin Deus and Nov. As Arcanoi know, Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov was a disciple of Master Deunov for 20 years (1917-1937) and never stopped honouring his Teacher - see Mikhaël Aïvanhov. Hommage au Maître Peter Deunov, Collection Izvor (Spring, source in BG), éd. Prosveta (Enlightenment in BG) 1991, Fréjus France, ISBN 2-85566-508-6. Every summer, in August, members of the Universal White Brotherhood from the whole world come to the Rila Mountain in Bulgaria. If you can find memories from the first French group in August 1939, you will understand why Mikhaël Aïvanhov and Peter Deunov are One. As I stated, this One is closely related to Bogomilism and its branches in Europe (Cathars, Albigeois, Patareni etc.). For more on Bogomilism's impact on the White Brotherhood see a 7p. article in Gnosis magazine, S. Fr. (31-1994) or also Lorimer D. The Bogomils. In.:Prophet of our times. The Life and Teachings of Peter Deunov, Element Books Ltd., 1991, pp. 4-10.

It is a very pleasant task to search for Bogomilist ideas in Deunovism (this term is not accepted by the White Brotherhood and I use it only to put it in terms of the other 2 -isms). You can find plenty of them in any book with systematic indexation of the Master's Teachings. No book is available, as far as I know, containing his sentences related to Bogomilism. Bulgarians hardly need such a book - they never questioned this relationship (it will be a book of proofs that 2+2=4) and the result would be a huge amount of books with indexes and quotes.

If Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov has established or not a connection (on the doctrine level) between his Teaching and Bogomilism (Catharism) would be irrelevant to the teaching itself. Nicetas had definite ideas but never identified himdelf as a Bogomil or radical dualist or whatsoever scientific tag some scholar may invent. But Nicetas surely knew that every epoch and every people living in it have their peculiarities and one cannot teach the same thing in the same way to everybody. If the Evil dominates, then comes the radical teaching of Ecclesia Drugometiae, if the Evil is dominated, then comes Ecclesia Bulgariae. As all docti authorities state, both ecclesiae are of Bulgarian origin. But it means nothing to the Soul and the Spirit. Cornelius Agrippa told much in his De occulta philosophia, but in my translations I had to point out to some of the tricks he used to tell it between the lines - one must remember that he was persecuted for heresy and, even with the protection of Emperor Maximilian, he had to go to England to save his life.

Nikolai H. Chernev
n.chernev@usa.net